He led the Tempe Union High School District through the rocky endeavor of creating a new sex-education curriculum. Then the district's six comprehensive high schools all earned "A's" on their state report cards.

Still, Tempe Union Superintendent Ken Baca has turned down part of a raise that the district governing board offered him for this school year.

His $167,000 annual salary, up from the $154,000 he has made for the last three years, still is among the lowest for superintendents of large Valley school districts.

Superintendents at the elementary-school districts that feed into Tempe Union make less, but those in Chandler, Gilbert, Mesa, Scottsdale and Phoenix Union High School districts make more.

"He has always been about the job first, the pay second. His humility shines," said Tempe Union governing board vice president Moses Sanchez.

Board members had wanted Baca to take a $170,000 salary. He countered with $163,000 but board members ultimately convinced him to take more.

"Dr. Baca has set a high bar in our high schools and has hurdled over that bar," Sanchez said.

Board member Sandy Lowe said she is particularly impressed with the time and effort Baca made to interact with district parents and resolve the problems they bring to his attention.

"Parents are pleasantly surprised by his honesty and openness in this leadership position regardless whether they agree 100 percent with him or not," she said "From my experience, this is a rare quality among superintendents."

The results of Baca's leadership were seen in early August, when the district's Arizona Department of Education report cards showed that all six of its comprehensive high schools earned A's.

In September, the board is expected to vote on a months-long district effort to improve Tempe Union's sex-education curricula. After parents and community members packed the board room in January to voice concerns, staff created a unique program that will aim to inform 10th-graders about health and sexuality without violating the norms of conservative parents.

In addition, parents may opt their teens into an alternative program, "Choosing the Best" or to no sex eduction at all.

This school year, Baca will lead several new district efforts:

• Improvements to the district website so that information is easier to find for parents and the community.

• Development of uniform in-house assessments so district leaders will know how students at all schools are performing before they take the annual state assessment.

• An employee-satisfaction survey.

"It's important to know that we are going to retain high-quality teachers and staff," Baca said.